Saturday, March 31, 2012

The physics of radio spectrum place a natural limit on wireless Internet capacity. That limit is exacerbated by the wireline telco monopolies who restrict wireline backhaul connections to cell sites, writes Level 3 Communications CEO James Q. Crowein this Forbes article.

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

More than a decade after the term “broadband adoption” was relevant, studies such as this one issued today by TechNet continue to use the phrase as if the United States was on the eve of the new millennium and Y2K was a topic of concern.In 2000, discussing “broadband adoption” was pertinent since “broadband” Internet connections were relatively new and distinct from the then commonplace dialup “narrowband” service delivered over legacy copper cable telephone networks.

In 2012, broadband adoption is a non sequitur since both the term “broadband” and the notion that people are migrating in large numbers from “narrowband” are badly outdated.Nowadays, the Internet can deliver voice telephone and TV video in addition to websites and email that was relatively novel for many in 2000.

People adopted voice telephone and TV decades ago.What has changed is the means over which these services are provided.Internet protocol technology and fiber optic connections allow voice, video, websites, email and many yet to be popularized applications to be delivered to peoples’ homes.

It’s time to retire the term “broadband adoption” to the history books and get on with modernizing the nation’s telecommunications infrastructure to provide all American homes fiber optic connections and the many Internet-based services they can provide.

Tuesday, March 06, 2012

Verizon's announcement today of its HomeFusion wireless residential Internet service offering based on its nascent 4G cellular LTE service appears aimed at picking up marginal residential market share in suburban and exurban fringes of U.S metro areas where wireline connectivity from incumbent telcos and cable providers is sketchy. These are also areas where Verizon might otherwise deploy its FiOS fiber to the premise residential wireline product but will not because the company has called a halt to further FiOS expansion.

It's not likely HomeFusion will be broadly deployed in predominantly rural and quasi-rural areas. Like Verizon's mobile wireless offerings, it's bandwidth metered and can't offer the ample headroom for bandwidth demand growth -- much of it driven by video -- that fiber does. In order to improve Internet deployment and access in these areas, these communities will have to build their own fiber to the premises networks constructed by local governments or telecom cooperatives.

AT&T has effectively thrown in the towel in serving these areas. HomeFusion represents Verizon's last ditch effort to pick up some limited revenues in these underserved markets.

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In the late 1980s and early 1990s, I grew fascinated by the rapid evolution of personal computing and telecommunications and particularly their ability to virtually shrink time and distance. This is a society-altering trend that improves the quality of lives for millions as well as the environment by reducing transportation demand. In a world of digital communications, knowledge workers can interact with employers, colleagues and clients regardless of location. However, in much of the United States, the so-called "last mile" telecommunications infrastructure that brings advanced digital services to homes and small businesses is incomplete, inadequate and overly reliant on copper wire designed for a bygone era of analog "plain old telephone" service. Former U.S. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski has described the build out of modern, digital telecommunications infrastructure to serve nearly all Americans no matter where they make their homes and businesses as the "critical infrastructure challenge of our generation." This blog is dedicated to the exploration of strategies and methods to meet this challenge.